To the Editor:
While it has a somewhat valid premise, David Sheffield's '11 column ("Time for the Glorious Recapitulation," April 26) about the "decrepit music" that is pervasive in modern society is a bit narrow-minded. As an avid listener and player of jazz and classical music, I can understand his perspective on the simplicity and repetitiveness found in much of today's music. Attempting to compare classical music to more modern music, however, is like comparing apples and oranges. Both are legitimate art forms but are intended for different audiences and convey different emotions.
Snoop Dogg, for example, captures primal, instinctive emotions — dealing with girls, having sex and getting wasted or high — in a way that one of Strauss's waltzes never could (or would). Additionally, is there no value to simplicity? Yes, the beat behind "The Next Episode" (the song Snoop opened with) isn't particularly complex, but that doesn't mean that it sounds bad or didn't require a painstaking amount of thought, inspiration, and talent to create. While it would be nice if more people indulged in jazz and classical music, condemning all modern music for — at least according to Sheffield — sounding bad and not being complicated enough is over the top.
Dan Morgan '10
April 26
